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Author Archives: Lady of the Manners
Offering An Apology
Hellooooo Faithful Readers, and welcome to February’s edition of Gothic Charm School. Readers who have been visiting for ages will remember that during February, the Lady of the Manners likes to give all of you advice on romance (or the death of romance). Now, this month is going to be a little different””just a little””because a nice young man named David is asking for help in talking to a girl. A goth girl, to be precise, while he is NOT a goth. What makes this different from advice given in previous Februarys is that David doesn’t say that he’s, y’know, “interested” in this lady. No, he just wants to apologize for previous boorish behavior on his part. Mind you, the Lady of the Manners has her suspicions about what is motivating young David to try to make amends, but the Lady of the Manners will keep her suspicions to herself (for once, some of the Lady of the Manners’ friends would add). Continue reading
Posted in Being Mannerly
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Dress Codes and Netiquette
Greetings, Faithful Readers, and welcome to 2001! Now, the Lady of the Manners realizes that she promised at the end of her December column that she would, in this month’s column, talk about how being a jeans-and-t-shirt goth was perfectly acceptable. And she IS going to talk about that. However, she’s going to slip some other topics in at the end of the column, and thought it was only fair to warn you.
Now, the Lady of the Manners is sure that there are whole swarms of you out there who are goths of the jeans and t-shirt variety who don’t need someone else to tell you that YES, you really are a goth. But! You would be amazed at the number of emails Gothic Charm School gets all the time from young gothlings, saying things such as, “My friend said I’m not a REAL goth,” just because they (unlike their friends, apparently) choose to wear jeans and t-shirts. So the Lady of the Manners would like to take this opportunity to address THEIR fears. Continue reading
Posted in Being Social
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Small Town Goth
Hello, Faithful Readers, and welcome to December’s edition of Gothic Charm School. This month we have a letter from a reader to answer; a letter that contains a few questions AND a compliment for the Lady of the Manners. The Lady of the Manners likes getting compliments very much, but will answer reader concerns that come without compliments. Really. Even tho’ the Lady of the Manners has been told of late that she looks quite fetching in her new hat. But, enough of preening! Onwards to the Delicate Query of Our Reader.
Dear Gothic Charm School,
I must first offer my shameless worship of whom I believe to be one of the last true “ladies” in this new era of goth. Also I wish to commend you on your quest to reinstate manners among the mass of goth society. to quote an now departed friend of mine: “It is just common courtesy, and without it you are just common.” Continue reading
Posted in Being Social
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Why Goths Must Be Polite
Hellllloooo, Faithful Readers, and welcome to your usual monthly visit to Gothic Charm School. This time around, the Lady of the Manners is going to talk to you about the reason behind her writing this column month after month. Yes, Goths and Manners; how clever of you to have guessed.
Now, the Lady of the Manners is sure there are a few of you out there in Gothy Internet Land are scratching your heads in a perplexed manner, thinking, “But she writes about this all the time. Now what is she doing?” That’s fine ”” go get a cup of coffee, then sit back down and let the Lady of the Manners chat with you. Continue reading
Posted in Being Mannerly
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Compliments and Catty Comments – how to take them gracefully
Greetings Faithful Readers, and welcome to September’s Gothic Charm School. Those of you who stopped by last month will remember that the Lady of the Manners talked about compliments, questions, insults, and how to deal with them. This month is about the other side of that topic ”” not the receiving of said things, but the giving.
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Posted in Being Mannerly
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Comments from the Unenlightened
Greetings, Faithful Readers, and welcome to another month’s chat at Gothic Charm School. As she’s been strolling around the city, parasol held aloft, the Lady of the Manners has been having experiences that (surprise, surprise) mirror those which a lot of the Faithful Readers have been emailing her about. Therefore, this month’s column is about Compliments, Questions, and (sad to say) Insults from those who are Not Goths, and how to respond to them.
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Posted in Being Mannerly
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Summer Etiquette
Hello, Faithful Readers, and welcome to the July episode of Gothic Charm School. Ahhh, summer vacation, or even just summer weekends. Nice weather, and (hopefully) the time to enjoy it. There’s so much to do! Picnics, outdoor festivals, the zoo, theme parks, the beach (while the Lady of the Manners herself doesn’t go to beaches, she’s been assured they can be quite nice), outdoor concerts”¦ Continue reading
Posted in Holidays & Special Occasions
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Hosting a Gathering
Greetings, Faithful Readers, and welcome to the June edition of Gothic Charm School. With June comes longer days and warmer nights; what better way to use them than to throw parties? Of course, there are certain things one should keep in mind when being a host or hostess for a clot of goths”¦ Continue reading
Posted in Holidays & Special Occasions
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Dealing With Crushes
Helllloooooo, Faithful Readers, and welcome to the May edition of Gothic Charm School. May”¦May”¦what does that mean? Just a moment, the Lady of the Manners had a note about this around here somewhere, under the stack of fashion magazines”¦
Ah yes. May = Spring, which = high spirits, people getting crushes on other people, and just about everyone wandering around in a constant state of being twitterpated. Continue reading
Posted in Love & Romance
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Roommates, oh dear, oh dear
Hello, Faithful Readers, and welcome to your monthly installment of advice and etiquette! Now this month, the Lady of the Manners is going to hold forth on a subject she hasn’t had to personally deal with in a while ”¦ roommates. (When one is married, one’s spouse is not considered a roommate. Really. It’s a subtle distinction, but the Lady of the Manners trusts that when or if any of you get married, you’ll understand what she means.)
Roommates are quirky creatures. On one hand, they can be your closest friend and confidant; on the other hand, they can be the evil thing that borrows your clothes without asking first and leaves the bathroom resembling a disaster area. Sometimes, they’re all those things ”” the trick is to have a roommate with more good qualities than bad, and make sure that you don’t unthinkingly annoy them as much as or more than they can potentially annoy you.
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Posted in Being Social
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